1. The Question
Is it legitimate to require foreign residents to understand the Japanese language, culture, and social rules?
In recent years, this question has begun to take concrete policy form.
The Japanese government is considering making participation in learning programs on Japanese language and social rules a factor in residence screening and permanent residency decisions.
Behind this move lies growing concern over friction with local communities and anxiety surrounding social coexistence.
However, from the perspective of the Balanced Coexistence Model, the issue is not simply whether language requirements are justified.
The real question is:
How should integration be institutionalized?
2. Is Integration a Matter of “Ability”?
Current policy discussions often treat integration as an individual capability.
- Japanese language proficiency
- Understanding of Japanese culture
- Knowledge of social rules
- Children’s school attendance
These are increasingly being used as indicators of whether a person is “integrated.”
But this contains a critical assumption:
That integration should be achieved primarily through individual effort.
In reality, however, integration is not determined by individual ability alone.
3. Integration Conditions Without Integration Infrastructure
For foreign residents to learn Japanese and participate in society, certain conditions are necessary:
- Access to education
- Stable employment
- Appropriate working conditions
- Daily life support
- Opportunities for community connection
Yet in reality, many migrants face:
- Long working hours
- Residence instability
- Regional disparities in support
- Financial burdens related to language learning
Under such conditions, strengthening integration requirements alone risks transforming integration policy into something else.
Integration policy can shift from support to selection.
4. Integration Conditions and Explainability
Another important issue is that integration conditions can easily become ambiguous.
For example:
- How much language ability is enough?
- What qualifies as “integration”?
- Who evaluates it, and by what standards?
If these questions remain unclear,
integration requirements become broad discretionary tools.
As discussed in Chapters 8 through 10:
- Unexplainable decisions
- Inconsistent standards
- Unpredictable outcomes
generate distrust.
Therefore:
Integration conditions themselves must also be explainable.
5. The Structural Distortion Behind Language Requirements
The Japanese government has proposed requiring proof of Japanese language ability for the “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services” visa category.
In cases where Japanese is necessary for the job, applicants may be required to demonstrate approximately B2-level proficiency (equivalent to JLPT N2).
At first glance, this appears to be a reasonable tightening of standards.
Language ability is clearly related to workplace performance and adaptation.
However, behind this policy lies a deeper structural distortion.
Cases have repeatedly emerged in which foreign workers entering under highly skilled visa categories are in fact engaged in low-skilled labor.
This problem is not merely individual misconduct.
It is produced by structural conditions such as:
- Inappropriate job classification by employers
- Inconsistent oversight
- Excessive reliance on document-based screening
6. Language Requirements Cannot Solve the Structural Problem
The key question is whether language requirements actually solve this problem.
Certainly, individuals with higher Japanese proficiency are more likely to work in positions that genuinely require Japanese.
But this is only a tendency.
If employers simply classify a position as “not requiring Japanese,” the underlying structure remains unchanged.
In some cases, stronger language ability may even justify assigning workers to tasks beyond the original scope of their visa category.
In other words:
Language requirements may reduce the probability of certain problems,
but they do not alter the structure producing those problems.
7. The Real Issue Is Not “Language” but “Reality”
The Balanced Coexistence Model prioritizes actual institutional operation over formal indicators.
What should truly be examined is:
- What kind of work the individual is actually performing
- Whether that work matches the visa category
- Whether adequate support exists
- Whether opportunities for social connection are available
However, current systems do not sufficiently verify these realities.
As a result, language ability and learning records are increasingly being used as proxy indicators to fill this gap.
8. Operational Visibility as the Real Solution
What, then, is actually required?
The answer is:
Visibility of institutional operation.
It must be possible to understand:
- Who verifies what
- Based on which standards
- Through what process
This process must be transparent and reproducible.
For example:
- Consistency between employment contracts and actual duties
- Proportionality between wages and job content
- Actual working hours and assignments
- Availability of educational and community support
These conditions must be continuously monitored and verified.
Only then can institutions become genuinely trustworthy.
9. Integration Is a Mutual Obligation
In the Balanced Coexistence Model, integration is not one-directional.
It is not only migrants who must:
- Learn
- Adapt
- Seek understanding
Institutions and society also bear responsibilities:
- To provide support opportunities
- To prevent exclusion
- To guarantee social connectivity
Therefore:
Integration is not merely an obligation imposed on individuals.
It is a mutual obligation involving both institutions and society.
10. Conclusion
In the Balanced Coexistence Model, integration is not a matter of personal ability alone.
It is:
A condition supported by institutions.
Language and learning requirements may function as part of that process.
But they must not become substitutes that conceal institutional deficiencies.
The question is not only whether migrants can adapt.
The deeper question is whether society itself possesses institutions capable of supporting integration.
That is the issue truly at stake.
*This post is positioned as a chapter that makes up the table of contents in the Balanced Coexistence Model.